Winter diary: 2012 Toyota Tacoma

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6. A mover's blanket is no substitute for a proper cab cover.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

The 2012 Toyota Tacoma cab can be snug, especially with two sons and one chocolate lab.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD V6.

PHOTO: Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

Week one

By Derek McNaughton, Postmedia News

Originally published: January 3, 2012

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

Ontario’s fall was, apparently, one of the most temperate ever recorded. And while the Golden Horseshoe may still be experiencing a winter more like North Carolina, up here in Ottawa the snow began on Christmas day and has barely abated since. Up here, we know winter. Winters are us.

We also know what it takes to endure the hoary old frost — a burly 4×4 helps — as does an equal measure of fortitude, winter tires and dry hardwood for the stove. And this year, as in year’s past, we are lucky enough to have all of the above, thanks to the new-for-2012 Toyota Tacoma TRD we have on loan from Toyota Canada for eight weeks.

Yes, that’s 7 weeks longer than a standard road test, but vehicles such as this, in a season as truly insane as this, require more than a cursory glance to see if they are genuinely cut out for the brutality that a Canadian winter can be. Last year, we tested an Audi Q5, and the year before that a 2010 Toyota 4Runner. Through both of those winter diaries, we learned what those two vehicles were capable of (plenty, it turns out), and we never once failed to reach my old wooden cottage that sits at the end of an unplowed lane on the shores of Bobs Lake near Westport, Ont. Those diaries stand as some of the best road-test references ever.

The winter of 2012 will see the Tacoma face similar challenges as we head down the snow-covered lane accessing my wood-heated cottage each weekend, just as we did over New Year’s when the dawn of 2012 blessed us with equal parts snow and freezing rain. Through all that winter mess, the Tacoma Doublecab 4×4 V6 merely shrugged it off, in part thanks to the Toyo Observe GSi-5 winter tires, but also a capable four-wheel drive system controlled via an electronic switch that activates a two-speed transfer case.

What we’ve learned about the TRD Tacoma right out of the gate is that it has one seriously stiff suspension — the Bilstein shocks making for a ride as firm as a Ford F-250 — but one that can easily swallow rough terrain. We also notice fuel disappearing at an alarming rate — our first full tank will not be able to exceed 400 kms. And it’s odd — no, unfortunate — that the gap between the bed’s wheel wells is only 3’-6” rather than the universally accepted four-foot. Was it really impossible to squeeze three inches from each wheel well when refreshing the Tacoma for 2012?

Still, not everyone, including me, needs a large bed very often, and the composite bed material seems durable enough; it also isn’t slippery as I expected with some snow on it. One thing is certain: a mover’s blanket is no match for a proper bed cover, which seems an absolute necessity given the Tacoma’s smallish interior and limited cargo pockets.

The 2012 Tacoma TRD, however, has already won my early affection with its truckish feel without being aggressively truck-like. It’s easy to negotiate in traffic and unlike most full-sized trucks doesn’t feel like driving a locomotive. The new interior is pleasantly improved and the engine feels strong enough.

I fully expect this $37,125 Tacoma to grow on me as we put it through challenge after challenge this winter — one of the bigger ones hauling out some felled timber across a frozen swamp near the cottage in the next few weeks. Undoubtedly, there will be lots of snow. Whether it exceeds the Tacoma’s ground clearance, and therefore its capability, is something we’ll find out soon enough.